Domestic Violence Act proceedings are basically civil in nature, rules Madras HC

Parliament had empowered magistrates, who generally deal with criminal cases, to adjudicate PoWDVA proceedings to provide more teeth to the legislation

The basic relief proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PoWDVA), 2005 are purely civil in nature though the Parliament had consciously empowered judicial magistrates to adjudicate the rights of victim women by predominantly adopting procedures prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.), the Madras High Court has held.

Second Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and Sunder Mohan passed the ruling while answering references made by two single judges - Justices R. Subramanian and K. Murali Shankar - since there were contradictory verdicts on the issue by different judges of the High Court with some terming it to be criminal proceedings and others as civil proceedings.

The Bench pointed out the statement of objects and reasons of PoWDVA clearly states that it was aimed at providing civil law remedies to victims of offences or civil wrongs or both committed by adult males. It specifically states there was no civil law to address the phenomenon of domestic violence which constitutes an offence under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code.

Therefore, the PoWDVA creates a plethora of civil rights for the victim women in the nature of issuing prohibitory orders against the aggressor, right to get compensation, right from being dispossessed from a shared household and so on. Such reliefs were completely alien to criminal law. Nevertheless, the Parliament in its wisdom empowered magistrates to deal with them.

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Stating that the intention of the legislature behind empowering the magistrates, who generally deal with criminal cases, to entertain PoWDVA applications was to give more teeth to the civil law remedies, the Bench said, it was only when there was a breach of the protection orders passed by the Magistrate that the proceedings would become penal in nature.

Authoring the verdict for the Division Bench, Justice Mohan wrote: “The determination of rights under Chapter IV of the Domestic Violence Act does not result in penal consequences so as to term it as criminal proceedings... It is only when there is a breach of the protection order passed by a Magistrate, the proceedings become penal in nature.”